Send L-A and Tony back to Africa!

$27,785
of $28,150 goal

Hi! We are Laurie-Ann & Tony Copple. We're based in Ottawa, Canada. Tony's just retired, and "L-A" volunteers for different Christian ministries. We share a heart for the broken, and those who slip through the cracks. L-A's been called as a missionary for years. This new season of their lives brought them to the Iris Global Harvest School in Pemba, Mozambique, and for an extended outreach at the Iris Western Cape base in South Africa from late May to late August 2016. We raised nearly all of our funds for our school and outreach fees as well as airfare, camping equipment, visas, meds, insurance etc (via GoFundMe, offline events, kind donors and a family inheritance). We were changed and our hearts have become even bigger.

We also have been inspired to start a legacy project - in helping a widow named Maria Valisora build a new house. We met Maria on our village immersion and were shocked to find the state of her house - which is a two room shack at the bottom of a hill, beside the Boroma village latrine. When the rains come, the house is flooded due to the shoddy construction and infrastructure. The Iris Mercy Dept at Pemba base has determined that Maria needs a new house (before the rains if possible) - and we started off the fund with USD $1,000. We need approx $4,500 Cdn to get this project done. We are also in the process of registering this project with Iris Ministries Canada.

Hi everyone! We are back from Africa a changed couple. We intend on returning long-term to South Africa within a year if possible (to Iris Western Cape). Meanwhile, we have a very special legacy project to share with you.
When we were in Mozambique, we were paired with a Mozambican 'mama' for our cross cultural village immersion. We met Maria Valisora, who blessed us with homemade matapa (a delicious Mozambican meal). We were shocked to discover the state of her house - a ramshackle two room shack at the bottom of a hill, beside the village latrine. When the rains come, the house is flooded due to the shoddy construction/infrastructure. The Iris Mercy Dept at Iris Pemba base determined that Maria needs a new house. We started off the fund with $USD 1,000. We need approx $Cdn 4,500 to get this project done.
So far we also received $2,000 Cdn from two donors inspired to do so. We also have some more to add to that ourselves.
Would you consider topping up our fund, so that Maria can have her house before it rains? You can either donate via this GoFundMe page, or through Iris Ministries Canada, if you need a tax receipt (but they don't do online donations for this purpose).

We have attached a video that Tony has made of our Village Immersion. (Here’s the Bitly link bit.ly/2bKvC6H ).

Maria is the lady in our group picture on this page. Please feel free to ask Laurie-Ann for any more info.

Hi everyone! At this time this Wednesday, we will be on the plane from Washington DC to Johannesburg,, South Africa!! Not long now!

Tony had a special send-off at his church (hugs, prayer and cake), and St Paul's 3 services were special for me - I got to talk to a bunch of people and hear what's going on in their lives. Catch the Fire Ottawa even gave me a send off as well. We're a bit behind on the packing - dealing with life, local ministry, unpacking the condo and the early stages of 'ziplocking' many items that will go in our suitcases. It will be an engineering job to pack well, along with bringing our bedding, camping equipment, bed net, practical gifts for Pemba and Robertson, Tony's travel guitar etc.

We still need $5,000 Canadian. If you have been considering giving, now is the time. Thankfully anything from GoFundMe goes right to us, so if necessary, the funds can be accessed by debit when we're in Africa.

So that means one can give via our GoFundMe account right into August, when we'll be in South Africa. We trust that all will be there when we need it at the exact time. Its all about trust. Thanks everyone for supporting and praying for us.

Hi everyone! In less than 10 days, we're on our way to Johannesburg, South Africa (which is our rest stop before we go to Pemba, Mozambique for our IrisGlobal mission school). We had a very special event at Tony's church last Friday that completely blew us away. We also had great ministry time too. I've had my send-off Sunday at Kingdom Culture, where I was honoured with prayer, flowers, hugs and a journal with very special love notes.

Next Sunday (May 22), I will be at all the services of St Paul's Anglican in Kanata, and Catch the Fire Ottawa (location is also St Paul's). You can chat with me between services over coffee.

While we don't have any more events before we leave (we're getting settled in our new condo home in Brittania neighbourhood, and preparing for our mission), you can still communicate with us, pray for us, and also donate towards our mission. We still need approx. $7.000 Canadian, but I know this is achievable. We can only trust God. Thanks everyone for cheering us on, praying for us and loving on us.

Hi everyone! We had our movie night last week and I sold two pieces of art to a dear friend. 9 dear people came to the event, and although the size was intimate, it was very special. We are still a bit more than $9.500 short of our goal and half of the Iris Global school fees are sitting on my Visa card. We also need to raise our outreach fees for Mozambique and South Africa.
You can see Tony speak at his friend Pastor Cornelius' church (Tabernacle of Prayer) on Wednesday night.
Tony and I will also speak, have a small presentation with coffee/cake at Blackburn Hamlet Community Church, 2598 Innes Rd in Blackburn Hamlet. We'll be there Friday May 13 from 7-9 pm.
If you can't make these events but still feel led to give, please do so via GoFundMe. It's fast, secure and easy - and you don't even need to be in Canada to do it!!

Please continue to keep us in your prayers - we're still in transition with the move from house to condo.